Kitsap County Jury Awards $30.17 Million Verdict to Deputy Amputee – Read More
Kitsap County Jury Awards $30.17 Million Verdict to Deputy Amputee – Read More
Davis Law Group secured a $605,000 settlement for a veteran concrete finisher who was knocked unconscious and left with a shattered ankle after a slab of wet concrete weighing more than 1,000 pounds broke loose from a 16-foot wall and fell on him. The case turned on a part of Washington law many injured workers never hear about: when you are hurt on a jobsite, the company that signs your paycheck is usually off-limits, but the general contractor and other companies in charge of site safety are not.
Our client came to the firm facing a hard problem. His own employer was protected from suit by the workers’ compensation system, the companies that controlled the site denied doing anything wrong, and the defense hired its own experts to argue his worst injuries had nothing to do with the accident. After building the liability case against the contractors who ran the project and documenting the full extent of his injuries, the firm resolved the matter for $605,000 before trial.
On May 12, 2021, our client was working as a concrete finisher on a 16-foot retaining wall at a fuel station project in Washington. The wall was built in layers of shotcrete, which is concrete sprayed through a hose at high pressure and then shaped by hand.
That afternoon, a chunk of shotcrete measuring roughly 4 feet by 3 feet by 1 foot, and weighing over 1,000 pounds, tore away from near the top of the wall and dropped straight down. Our client was working at ground level when it hit him. The impact drove him into the ground, knocked him unconscious, and fractured his left ankle in two places while twisting it out of its joint.
In the construction trade, a sudden collapse of shotcrete like this is called a “fallout.” It is a known and dangerous hazard, and it is preventable. The structural layer of shotcrete had not been given enough time to cure before the finish layer was applied over it. When workers began shaping the outer layer, the whole mass let go. Even the subcontractor’s own crew admitted the fallout would not have happened if the first layer had been allowed to set longer.
Just as important, workers were allowed to stand and work directly beneath freshly sprayed shotcrete, with no barrier or catch platform to protect them. Washington’s safety regulations require protection for anyone working below that kind of overhead hazard. No one on the project was tracking the thickness of the concrete or keeping workers out of the fall zone.
The falling shotcrete did serious and lasting damage.
Our client’s left ankle was fractured in two places and dislocated into an unnatural position. Six days later, surgeons rebuilt it with plates and screws in a procedure called an open reduction and internal fixation. He spent months on crutches and in physical therapy.
The force of the impact also aggravated pre-existing problems in his lower back and right hip that had not been bothering him before this workplace accident occurred. The hip deteriorated to the point that he needed a total hip replacement in March 2022. His treating physiatrist linked the ankle injury, the back symptoms, and the hip replacement to the day the wall came down.
His past medical bills alone came to more than $91,000, and his doctors projected hundreds of thousands of dollars in future care, including the likelihood of a second hip surgery and ongoing treatment for arthritis in the damaged ankle.
Our client had spent years earning an honest living as a concrete finisher. After the accident, his doctors placed permanent restrictions on kneeling, squatting, crawling, climbing, and standing for long stretches. Being that those are the core movements of his trade, it was clear that our client’s injuries could jeopardize his future earning ability. A vocational expert concluded he could no longer do the job he trained for and would need to retrain for lighter work at lower rate of pay.
When you are hurt on the job in Washington, the workers’ compensation system generally bars you from suing your direct employer. What it does not do is protect every other company on the site. General contractors and upper-tier contractors have a separate, non-delegable duty under the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act to provide a safe workplace to every worker on the project, not just their own employees.
Washington courts have reinforced this duty many times. A general contractor cannot hand off its responsibility for jobsite safety to a subcontractor and walk away. If a subcontractor’s unsafe work injures a worker, the general contractor and the upper-tier contractors can be held liable for failing to catch and stop it.
Here, the companies that controlled the project violated those duties. Their safety programs did not address shotcrete fallout at all, even though it is a well-known hazard of the work. No one set up a controlled access zone to keep workers out of the fall area. No one monitored the concrete thickness. After a smaller fallout happened earlier the same day, no one stopped work, held a safety meeting, or changed anything before the second, larger fallout struck our client. The firm used two construction safety experts to lay out each of these failures and tie them directly to the injury.
The defense did not go quietly. As of the mediation, the defendants had not made a single settlement offer, and they had lined up their own orthopedic expert to argue that the ankle had fully healed and that the back and hip problems were unrelated to the accident.
The firm prepared the case for trial and pressed the liability evidence against every contractor in the chain. The matter settled for a total of $605,000, with $555,000 going to our client and $50,000 allocated to his wife for the strain the injury put on their marriage. As in most settlements, the defendants did not admit fault. The result gave our client financial stability while he adjusts to a different line of work.
An injured construction worker can often recover far more than a workers’ compensation claim pays, especially when a third party like a general contractor or another subcontractor contributed to the injury. Depending on the facts, a third-party construction injury claim can include:
The value of any claim depends on the injuries, the strength of the liability evidence, and the long-term effect on the worker’s life and ability to earn a living.
Can I sue if I was hurt on a construction site but I get workers’ compensation?
Often, yes. Workers’ compensation usually prevents you from suing your own employer, but it does not stop you from bringing a claim against other at-fault companies on the site, such as the general contractor, a subcontractor, or an equipment supplier. This is called a third-party claim, and it can be pursued at the same time as your workers’ compensation benefits.
Who is responsible for safety on a construction site in Washington?
General contractors and upper-tier contractors have a non-delegable duty under Washington’s worker safety law to provide a safe workplace for everyone on the jobsite, not only their own employees. They cannot escape that duty by pointing to a subcontractor. When they fail to enforce safe practices and a worker is hurt, they can be held liable.
What is a third-party claim in a construction injury case?
A third-party claim is a personal injury lawsuit against a company other than your direct employer. On a jobsite with multiple contractors, the business that caused your injury is frequently not the one that employs you. A third-party claim lets you hold that company accountable and recover damages that workers’ compensation does not pay, such as pain and suffering and full lost earning capacity.
How long do I have to file a construction accident claim in Washington?
The statute of limitations for most personal injury claims in Washington is three years from the date of injury under RCW 4.16.080, though exceptions can apply. Workers’ compensation claims have their own, shorter deadlines. Talk to an attorney quickly so evidence can be preserved and no deadline is missed.
Do I have a case if the other side blames my injuries on a pre-existing condition?
Frequently, yes. Defendants routinely argue that an injury was caused by something other than the accident. Washington law allows you to recover when an accident aggravates or worsens a pre-existing condition. Proving it takes medical evidence, and an experienced firm will work with your doctors and expert witnesses to connect your injuries to the accident.
If you or a family member was hurt in a construction accident or another serious on-the-job incident in Washington, Davis Law Group can help. Our team handles complex, high-stakes cases with disputed liability, multiple contractors, and life-changing injuries.
Contact us online or call (206) 727-4000 to schedule a free consultation. We are available 24/7, and you pay no fee unless we recover for you.
Attorney at Law Magazine featured Chris Davis on the cover of the inaugural issue of the publication’s National Edition.
read articleOffice Hours:
24 hours/day. 7 days/week.
Phone:
Contact Us
Complete this CONFIDENTIAL form or call 206-727-4000 for a FREE consultation.